A little something for my students and my classroom....

They repainted the hallways in my school this past spring and while I have a fabulous place to display the student's artwork I won't have a place for the large poster that has one of my favorite quotes.  So instead I thought I would make a 'poster' of my own that was smaller and that could hang on my classroom door.  I have been wanting to make a work of art from fabric since I started teaching, but was stumped for ideas that really got me excited and motivated.  When students ask about my artwork it is a little hard to describe to them how I make my artwork.  An art quilt seemed like a win-win situation.  So here is what I did...

First I had to cut out the basic picture of the flamingoes at work as well as the quote from fabric.  (I debated whether to do flamingoes, kids, myself, or some other sort of animal, but I finally settled on the flamingoes.  If you know me, you know that I love pink and that is what I love most about flamingoes.  They are also fun and whimsical for my K-2 students.)

After I got everything tacked down, it was time to head to the sewing machine.  Not only was I making sure everything was sewn down and wouldn't pop off; I also wanted to add more details with thread that would have been very tedious when trying to cut them out of fabric.  I have never tried thread painting (basically the machine is the brush and the thread is the paint) before and am now a little addicted.  Not only did it add the needed details, but it also added more texture.

All that was left was to add batting and a backing and I was ready to free-motion quilt the background.  And here is the final result....

I couldn't be more pleased and I am ready to see what my students think!

Summer = Sewing Bliss!!

Since the summer has started I seem to have project ideas just flowing through my mind 24/7.  It is great, but there is just one problem....I can't seem to get one finished because I am so excited to start the next!

However, I finally finished a quilted blanket for a antique day bed in my living room.  The bed has been in my family for years and a few months ago I decided to move it into the living room to enjoy it while giving my two cats a comfy seat in the front window.  I find that they spend most of their time there during the day.  They just love to soak up the sun.  The problem with the bed is it a funny size and regular quilts or blankets are just too big.  So I made my own using a soft, and durable polyester top, batting, and a cotton backing.  The polyester may not be the fanciest fabric, but it will hold up well under the cats' claws.  Since the quilt is really for the cats, I decided to make it personal by adding words and images to the quilt.  It is covered in hearts, mice, birds, and the cats' names.  The project was really fun and it is helping me perfect free motion stitching.  (And for better or worse, it is giving me all sorts of new ideas to add on to my stitch list!)